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Our verdict
The Lenovo N22 Touch Chromebook has some helpful new features, but it's powerful enough for students to only work on one task at a time.
To the
Useful grip
Long battery life
Will support Android apps
Against
Distorted sound
Mixed performance
Most Chromebooks look pretty similar, so it's fascinating to see Lenovo breaking the mold by adding some new features to the company's N22 Touch Chromebook ($230 as reviewed). This device has an integrated handle for easy portability and a camera that rotates so students can record both their teachers and themselves. However, the computer's mixed performance and poor speakers prevent these small innovations one task at a time, but competing machines offer stronger performance.
draft
The N22 has a few more moving parts than the average laptop. From the outside, some parts don't look what you'd expect, but they are actually signs of Lenovo's attempt at innovation. The black plastic lid features the Chrome logo and Lenovo emblem, along with a black cutout near the laptop lip. Opening the lid, I found that the webcam can rotate to face away from the user. I was also struck by an 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768 display , island-style keys and a deck made of more black plastic.
A retractable handle on the back of the N22 lets you carry the device like the world's smallest briefcase. This seemed a bit excessive for a 2.6-pound notebook, and my fingers had very little room under the handle, but I was able to see that the handle is useful for younger students who have less muscles and smaller hands. Between this and the handle, kids will be amazed at how much this looks like a Transformers toy.
At 2.6 pounds and 11.8 x 8.4 x 0.9 inches, the N22 is about the same size and weight as other student Chromebooks like this
Asus Chromebook C202
(2.6 pounds, 11.5 x 7.9 x 0.9 inches).
Dell Latitude 11 for Education
is larger at 3.2 pounds and 11.9 x 8.4 x 0.9 inches while the 1.4 x 8 x 0.8 inches
CTL Chromebook J4 Plus
is slightly lighter at 2.5 pounds.
The N22 is rugged enough to be tossed around in a backpack on your way to and from class. Lenovo claims this laptop is "semi-ruggedized," which suggests it can withstand drops of up to 8 feet and features a spill-resistant keyboard. Unfortunately, we weren't able to independently verify these claims. However, we dropped the Asus Chromebook C202 onto concrete from 4 feet and found that it sustained no permanent damage.
MORE:
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ports
The sides of the N22 contain a decent array of ports. On the left is an HDMI port, a USB 3.0 port, an SD card slot and an audio jack, while on the right is a lock slot and a another USB 3.0 port are accommodated.
DisplayThe Chromebook's 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768 pixel touchscreen is a bit dim but workable. However, its colors just don't pop. When I watched a 1080p trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Gamora's bright greens took hold Skin and the normally bright red eyes on Star-Lord's face mask suggest more muted colors. Many touchscreens are reflective, but I found the N22's mirror-like properties to be particularly annoying in dark scenes.
Those dull colors occur because the N22 only covers 71 percent of the sRGB color space. That's low compared to the ultraportable average (96 percent), but most notebooks for the education market are similar or worse. The J4 Plus (74 percent) is slightly better, but the Latitude (66 percent) and C202 (58 percent) fare even worse.
On the bright side, these tones are accurate. The N22's panel achieved a Delta-E color accuracy score of 1.3 (0 being best). The average is higher (2.07), and both the C202 (2.8) and the Latitude 11 (3.8) fare worse in our tests. The J4 Plus was the best of the group with a 0.4.
The display isn't as bright. Our brightness tests averaged 254 nits, which is well below the average of 303 nits but about on par with its direct competition. The Latitude, J4 Plus, and C202 had brightness scores of 269 , 256 or 250 cd/m².
keyboard and touchpad
The N22's keyboard has a sturdy build, but I wish the keys were a little more responsive. With 1.4 millimeters of travel and 59 grams of force to press, the keys felt a little flat but were still workable. I'm at 104 words per minute 10fastfingers.net, just below my average of 107 wpm, but with my usual 2 percent error rate. I was pleasantly surprised that the keyboard didn't give out when I typed, since most plastic laptops give at least a little bit.
The 4.1 x 2.4-inch touchpad is spacious and precise. I had no trouble navigating or using gestures like two-finger scrolling and three-finger swiping to switch between tabs.
Audio
There's no nice way to put it: the sound coming out of the N22's speakers is distorted.When I listened to 311's "Amber" it sounded like I was listening to it in a 1996 car stereo rather than enjoying premium audio quality.The vocals were pretty loud, as were the guitars that filled our medium-sized conference room, but the percussion was so muted I could barely hear them.
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perfomance
The N22's 1.6GHz Intel Celeron CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 16GB of flash storage might be enough for basic homework, but you won't be multitasking much on this device. It slowed down significantly when I was in Chrome switching between only six tabs open.When I was streaming a 1080p episode of "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" on YouTube, the computer started lagging with only three other tabs open.
In the JetStream benchmark test, which assesses JavaScript performance, the N22 scored 50.8, well below the ultraportable average of 155.9. However, it's just below the Latitude (57.2) and outperforms the J4 Plus (44.3).
Lenovo's Chromebook struggled with 3D graphics, rendering 2,000 fish at just 15 frames per second in the WebGL Aquarium test. The C202 was much more stable, displaying the same amount of fish at 27 fps.
battery life
The N22's greatest strength is its battery life, which lasts the whole school day and even some homework. It lasted 10 hours and 26 minutes on the Laptop Mag Battery Test, which involves continuous web surfing over WiFi. This laptop survived the Category average (8:12), Chromebook C202 (8:23), Latitude (7:22), and Chromebook J4 (6:39).
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cam
The N22's 720p webcam can be rotated 180 degrees to capture photos of whatever is on the other side of the screen. The motion is very smooth, but I couldn't rotate the camera in one motion. Although most home users will would not need a rear-facing camera on a laptop, I could see in a classroom that this was being used to take a picture of a whiteboard after class or to stream the lecture to students at home.
However, the photos are grainy. A photo I took of myself in our lobby was noisy and details like my hair and beard didn't stand out at all. However, N22's camera captured my cream sweater accurately.
Chrome operating system and software
The N22 runs Google's Chrome OS, which will be instantly familiar to anyone using the browser of the same name. Most applications require an internet connection, although some apps like Gmail Offline and Google Docs can perform some tasks without Wi-Fi.
The notebook is also on Google's list of Chromebooks that will support thousands of Android apps from the Google Play Store in the near future, although no date is set in stone.
heat
Students will want to take the N22 off their laps. After streaming 15 minutes of HD video from YouTube, the bottom of the notebook measured 99 degrees Fahrenheit, which is above our 95-degree comfort threshold. The touchpad (80.5 degrees) and the keyboard between the G and H keys (89.5 degrees) remained pleasantly cool.
configuration and guarantee
The N22 Touch Chromebook I tested came with a 1.6GHz Intel Celeron N3060 CPU, 4GB RAM and 16GB eMMC storage, and the cheapest price I found for it online was £232 US Dollars. Lenovo doesn't sell the device directly, but says it will cost between US$220 and US$240 at retail and websites.
Lenovo advertises options for 32GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, and two more Celeron processors on the company's website, but I didn't see those options when shopping online. The company told me that not many retailers sell these variations. You can buy the laptop also buy with similar specifications, but without a touchscreen.
Lenovo backs the N22 Touch Chromebook with a one-year warranty. See how the company fared in our Tech Support Showdown and Best and Worst Brands ranking.
bottom line
The Lenovo N22 Touch Chromebook is an affordable laptop for the education market, but the mixed performance of this device is best suited for students who only need to focus on one task at a time. Its grip is a nice addition for young students who tend to to drop their technique.
If your main priority is the typing experience, this is the
Asus Chromebook C202
(starting at $239) is worth a look. It has speakers, the best keyboard we've ever used on a Chromebook, and a durable construction that can survive a one-meter drop onto concrete, but its performance is similar to the N22. However, with a heavier non-touchscreen notebook and 2 hours less battery life, you must be okay.
However, if you want an educational Chromebook with epic battery life and some nice camera and grip updates, the N22 Touch is a solid choice.
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Lenovo N22 Touch Chromebook specifications
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 4.1
brand
Lenovo
CPU
1.6GHz Intel Celeron CPU N3060
card slots
2-1 card reader
corporate website
lenovo.com
screen size
11.6
graphic card
Integrated graphics
disk size
16 GIGABYTES
disk type
eMMC
native resolution
1366x678
operating system
Google Chrome
Connections (except USB)
USB 3.0, headphone/microphone, HDMI
R.A.M.
4GB
size
11.83 x 8.35 x 0.86 inches
touchpad size
4.1x2.4
USB ports
2
Warranty/Support
1 year
Weight
2.6 pounds
Wireless Internet access
802.11a/b/g/n/ac
WiFi model
2x2 Intel WiFi a/c 7265
Fewer
